The summer sun was scorching, and the heat wave was overwhelming one after another. The Situ Mansion, which had finally finished the funeral ceremony, became increasingly cold and lonely, with a desolate air.
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty went to court step by step every day, but something in the seemingly calm court was changing unknowingly. Emperor Wu remained calm and pretended not to know.
More than half a month has passed, and the prince's health still shows no sign of improvement. The ministers are worried. However, the documents sent to the prince's palace every day are reviewed and completed on time, and are sent to various ministries in the palace by the prince's palace stewards and guards. The government is still handling the affairs smoothly.
Everything was in perfect order - except that the prince never showed up, everything else seemed to remain unchanged.
The marriage between the eldest son of Prince Cheng and the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Civil Affairs has been scheduled for August 12th. Preparations for the marriage have already begun. Prince Rong and his son saw this in their eyes and knew in their hearts that Prince Cheng had begun to win over the courtiers. They could not wait any longer and had to do it as soon as possible.
Take action.
At the end of June, the queen finally found an opportunity to summon Princess Rong to the palace for a chat.
"My wife, please see the Queen."
"No courtesy." The queen looked gloomy, raised her hand and pointed, "Sit down."
"Thank you, Queen." Princess Rong sat down on a chair nearby, took the tea from the maid, and waited quietly for the Queen to speak.
"This palace has been depressed for the past month, and I can't relax." The queen's voice was silent, "The concubines in the harem are too strict in rules, and I can't talk to each other, so I thought of inviting Princess Rong into the palace.
, let’s chat about home affairs with me.”
"This is my wife's honor."
"The prince is not close to me, and the prince concubine is even more at odds with me. Therefore, in the days after the prince's assassination, I was in a bad mood. I was worried about his safety, but I couldn't save the face to take the initiative to ask." The queen raised her eyes and looked at Rong.
Princess, "It is convenient for Princess Rong to stay outside the palace, and she is also close to the Prince's Mansion. I wonder if she has visited the Prince's Mansion recently?"
Princess Rong was not sure about the queen's intentions for the moment, so she thought she was inquiring about the prince's situation. After hearing this, she lowered her head and smiled bitterly: "The prince's palace is heavily guarded, and I wanted to visit the prince, but the princess has always ordered people to guard the front yard.
It is only said that the prince needs to rest and it is not suitable to meet guests. I still don’t know what the prince’s condition is, and I hope the queen can forgive me.”
The queen frowned: "You haven't been able to see the prince's face?"
"Yes." Princess Rong sighed softly, "It's strange to say that I heard that the prince reviewed the documents handed in by the ministers every day. From the handwriting, it seems that they are indeed written by the prince. But for some reason, they have never been seen.
Until the prince shows up."
The Queen looked worried: "Since being able to approve the mistake proves that the injury is not harmful, then what is the Crown Princess doing? What is her intention in preventing others from visiting the Crown Prince?"
"I was so impulsive that I once said something disrespectful to the Crown Princess and asked her if she wanted to listen to politics behind the curtain..." Princess Rong stood up and made a confession in panic, "My wife is straightforward and sincere. At that time,
I don’t know why this suddenly appeared
I quickly realized that this idea was wrong. The Crown Princess was just a Crown Princess, not a Queen. How could she be qualified to listen to politics from behind the curtain? However, thinking about it at this time, did the Crown Princess's behavior really mean that she was holding the Crown Prince hostage to order the princes?
'mean?"
After the words fell, the queen's face became extremely ugly and her tone was cold: "She dares?"
Princess Rong knelt down and said, "I made a mistake, please forgive me, the Queen."
"The words and deeds of the Crown Princess are indeed strange." The Queen's eyebrows were dark, "The ministers of the court could indulge her to this extent, which is beyond my expectation."
Princess Rong didn't say anything. She didn't need to deliberately provoke her. She just had to tell the truth in detail and add a little more oil and a little jealousy. The queen, who was already extremely dissatisfied with the Crown Princess, would naturally believe her.
As the master of the harem, how could the queen allow her son to "rest" without any explanation and leave all external matters to the crown princess?
Is the prince's "rest" really necessary, or is he "forced to rest"?
The queen must want to figure this out. As long as she takes action, others will know the truth they want to see without any effort.
Princess Rong was making up her mind, but she had no idea that the queen would suddenly say: "Princess Rong, if anything happens to the prince..."
Princess Rong was shocked and raised her eyes in disbelief: "The Queen?"
"You don't have to be nervous, I just prepared for the worst." The queen sighed, her tone becoming more and more gloomy, "I sometimes regret that I shouldn't have brought the prince back in the first place. If he never came back, what would happen to these things?
How could there be so many messy things happening in the day?"
When Princess Rong heard this, her heart suddenly beat violently. She was afraid that she had misunderstood the queen's meaning, so she didn't dare to speak rashly. However, the excitement and excitement in her heart were so clear...
"What is Zhang'er doing recently?"
Princess Rong suppressed the excitement and urgency in her heart and spoke calmly: "He has been studying at home recently. He occasionally drinks tea and writes poems with a few close friends. He doesn't have any other ideas."
"Zhang'er is a good child." The queen said calmly, "Much better than the prince."
Princess Rong said quickly: "Zhang'er never dares to compare with His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Prince?" The queen sneered, "If I recognize him, he is the prince. If I don't want to recognize him, I still can't tell who the prince is today."
Princess Rong said nothing.
"Princess Rong, I would like to know what is going on with the Crown Prince now, and whether the Crown Princess wants to take this opportunity to do something evil." The Queen looked up at her, with a different meaning in her eyes, "If the Crown Prince really has a
There are three longs and two shorts. It is absolutely impossible for the Prince's Mansion to be left to Yun Zishu to have the final say. Does Princess Rong understand what I mean?"
Princess Rong's heart was beating like thunder, "But the Crown Princess kept blocking her and her attitude was extremely tough -"
"The tougher she is, the more guilty she is." The Queen said calmly, "Otherwise, what reason would she have for not letting the prince and the crown prince meet the prince?"
"The Queen is right."
"If something happens to the prince, the emperor will need to choose another person to be the prince." The queen's expression deepened, "Is Princess Rong willing to seize this opportunity?"
Princess Rong was surprised and happy, but even though she was extremely willing, she did not dare to show it on her face: "I would never dare to have such an idea, and I would like to ask the Queen to warn you!"
"You should go back first." The queen's tone returned to calmness, "Tomorrow morning, all the civil and military officials in the court will be discussing political affairs. Please ask Princess Rong to go to the Prince's Mansion again on my behalf and say that I am paying a visit to the Prince. If the Crown Princess still refuses to cooperate,
, Prince Rong’s Mansion can use extraordinary means, and you must see the Crown Prince himself.”